Catch Me If You Can
by SpitfirewaterNinja
Summary: Mckenzie Brookstone's world collapses in an instant. Her best friend is murdered in front of her eyes. The master of light is turning into the master of darkness. A killer is stalking her every move yet all she does is sit in silence. Cole can't get her out of her shell. Kai can't convince her life will turn out okay. But ninja never quit, right? Especially when it counts.
1. Chapter 1

**Song: Hunter Hayes- I Want Crazy**

Mckenzie Brookstone glanced at her phone. She and her best friend Rachel Holbrook were texting.

Hey - rayinthedark

Sup- lightunderWater

Whatcha up to?- rayinthedark

Just finished training. U? -lightunderWater

Girl all you do is train! Wanna go work on our parkour? I'm itching to try a new stairway dismount. - rayinthedark

Sure. Can I bring Kai?- lightunderWater

No prob. I'd drag Brayden along, but he's at his mom's house. I'll see you at the city park, k?- rayinthedark

Kk. Be there in 20- lightunderWater

Mckenzie slid down the banister, her favorite way to get downstairs. She charged through the hall, and almost slammed into her brother Cole.

"Easy, Kenzie Lise, what's shaking?" Cole looked at his sister with either fear or annoyance. Mckenzie grinned at the shortening of her full name, Mckenzie Annalise Bella Brookstone.

"Where's Kai? I just volunteered him to come with me and Rachel to work on our parkour. It's good training, you should come with us too." Mckenzie gushed, she was in a hurry and didn't want to be slowed down.

"One, I'm not coming. Two, I have no idea where Kai is. Three, slow down before you hurt yourself baby sis." Cole almost laughed at his sister. He was proud of her, sure, but heck, sometimes she was a crazy woman.

"Okay, okay, I will. Bye! Love you!" Mckenzie took off again.

"Love you too." Cole watched her hair, dark brown with reddish highlights and waist length, fly behind her as she ran. The only really physical similarities between the siblings were there faces. Emerald green eyes, thick eyebrows, and small noses. Everything else was opposite. Cole was 6'1, and Mckenzie was barely 5'2. Their hair colors were two completely different shades. Their personalities were fairly the same, though. Slightly arrogant, but extremely soft inside. Granted, Mckenzie was better at showing how she felt . Mckenzie was rather spunky, mainly due to the fact that most villains mocked her size. Cole loved his sister, and she returned it with all of her heart.

"Watch this!" Rachel whooped as she flipped over a row of bushes.

"That's easy!" Mckenzie giggled while handspringing across a bench.

"You two are such amateurs. Watch your fire baby Kenzie!" Kai leapt from an elevated sidewalk to a half pipe ten feet away.

"Your fire baby? Where did that come from?" Mckenzie couldn't restrain her laughter.

"Me. Who else?" Kai returned, backflipping just for fun.

"Could you two just get a room already?" Rachel rolled her eyes in mock disgust.

"Oh, look who's talking, I bet if Brayden was here, we'd be telling you guys the same thing." Mckenzie playfully bantered.

"Well he's not. So I get to tell you. For once..." Her phone rang as she trailed off. "It's my mom. Hang on." Rachel put the phone to her ear. "Yeah, mom? I'm at the park. Oh my gosh! I totally forgot! Okay, I'll be home. Love you." Rachel looked downcast as she hung up her phone.

"Sorry guys, my sister is coming home today. I've gotta go. See ya two lovebirds!" She made a smoochy face at them as she jogged off.

"Bye Ray!" Mckenzie called. "You wanna go?"

"We can. Or I could continue to teach you a lesson on how amazingly awesome I am." Kai teased as he picked her up off of her feet.

"Hey! Let me go!" Mckenzie giggled.

"Stop! I'll drop you!" Kai could barely hold onto the squiggly girl, he was laughing so hard.

"Let me go Kai!" Mckenzie finally gave up and went still.

"Finally. You get some sense into you." Kai said kissing her nose.

"Thanks. Let's go, rumor has it Zane and I are collaborating in the kitchen tonight."

"Ooohhhh yes! I'm ready to go, let's go right now." Kai slung her over his shoulder dead man style, and ran back to his bike. Mckenzie was startled at the turn of events, and started tickling the back of his neck.

"Aahhhh! Stop! I'll really drop you!" Kai started squirming and laughing to where he couldn't breathe. An elderly couple sitting on a bench smiled at them and looked like they missed the days when they were young and crazy.

"It's just payback," Mckenzie said sweetly, "For abducting me."

"Abducting you? I'm your knight in shining armor carrying you back to my horse. Well, it's got 1000 horsepower, so, I'm carrying you to my 1000 horses."

"That's the silliest thing I've ever heard." Mckenzie giggled as Kai flung her back in front of him and set her on the bike.

"Let's go baby girl. I need your cooking, and when you put it with Zane's," Kai's eyes glazed over for a second. Mckenzie laughed.

"Can you just drive? It won't be ready if we don't go now."

"Well in that case, I'll just step on it." Kai revved the engine and the two ninja flew off in the direction of the bounty and tea shop.


	2. Chapter 2

**Song: Eli Young Band- Crazy Girl**

Mckenzie and Kai rolled into the garage. Mckenzie pulled off her helmet and shook her head, sending her hair cascading down her back.

"Beat you back!" Mckenzie yelled as she took off towards the Bounty.

"Hey!" Kai called, sprinting towards her. "You got a head start!"

"No, you started late!" Mckenzie panted as she slammed into the door. "I win!"

Kai scooped her up bridal style and opened the door.

"We're home!" Mckenzie called. Jay walked into the small foyer. He looked at them with an amused smile.

"You two just don't give it a rest do you?"

"Nope." Kai kissed Mckenzie, just to annoy Jay.

"Ew... Can't you two get a room?" Jay rolled his eyes and walked away.

"Nope." Kai laughed when they came up for air.

After dinner Nya and Jay offered to do the dishes. Kai, Cole, Zane, Lloyd, Sensei Wu, and Mckenzie went to the game room, and Lloyd turned on Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, summer 2016.

"I call Amy!" Mckenzie shrieked, making a dive for her remote.

"Shadow!" Kai yelled as he hurriedly selected him before anyone else could.

"As long as I get Sonic, you guys work it out yourselves." Lloyd said, setting up the rest of the game. Cole and Zane decided to use the Wii game pads to play Call of Duty while the others fought over which event to compete in.

"We have to do swimming!" Mckenzie the water/light bender complained.

"Archery. Definitely archery." Lloyd said confidently.

"Archery is good," Kai commented.

"Two to One. Archery. Next we'll do swimming." Lloyd announced.

"Fine. Just know I'm gonna kick your butts." Mckenzie grumbled.

"Yeah, whatever." Kai laughed.

Mckenzie beat the boys at every single game.

"Mckenzie! Can't you throw a round or two? You know, make me feel awesome again?" Kai buried his face in his hands.

"Ha. Like you need to win to be awesome." Mckenzie sighed scooting over to him so she could rest her head on his chest.

"True."

"I wish that Jay and I were as cute as you two..." Nya said softly.

"Awww... Nya, we're adorable together!" Jay laughed kissing her nose.

"Yeah. Now if you two adorable couples could leave the area so us single pringles can actually play our games instead of watching you guys?" Cole groaned,

"Sure thing!" Jay said scooping Nya up and running with her down the hall.

"Good. One couple gone. One to go." Lloyd narrowed his eyes at Kai and Mckenzie.

"We'll leave!" Mckenzie said, in a playfully exasperated voice, throwing her hands in the air. Suddenly it started pouring rain outside, and lightning cracked across the sky. Everyone involuntarily looked down the hall at Jay's locked bedroom door.

"Uhhhhh..." Cole started.

"Don't even. Just don't." Lloyd said covering his eyes.

"You told them to leave," Mckenzie countered.

"Well, I didn't really think they would do, uh, that." Cole defended.

"Whatever, single pringle." Kai said laughing. He grabbed Mckenzie's hand and pulled her outside.

"What are we doing?" Mckenzie laughed, her hair already soaked.

"May I have this dance, Madame Gorgeous?" Kai asked, bowing, and offering her his hand.

"Certainly." Mckenzie smiled. How did she get so lucky? Kai slipped his pocket speaker under the porch, and hit the play button.

"Crazy Girl?" Mckenzie asked, hearing the opening notes of the song.

"What can I say? I love my crazy girl." Kai said pulling her close, then proceeded to gently spin her around in the rain.

That night around eleven o'clock, Cole was still awake. He was in the kitchen, reading the news on his phone. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice.

"Hey Cole?" It was Mckenzie. She walked into the kitchen, her hair in a messy bun, and was wearing her large glasses, running shorts and one of his t-shirts. So that was where his AC/DC shirt was.

"Geez, sis, don't do that. What's going on?" He noticed her frowning at her phone screen.

"Has Rachel texted you at all? Today I mean?"

"Noooo... Why would she text me?" Cole was secretly in love with Rachel, he had been for years, but he would never let it show.

"Her mom just texted me and said that she left the house a couple of hours ago, to come see me. She was wondering why."

"Well?"

"That's just it, I have no idea why she was coming here, or that she was even coming. Never said a word about it to me."

"That's odd. Maybe she was just playing a prank."

"No. Not like this. She may be a dork, but this is getting serious. She hasn't answered my texts, and I tried calling her, what's weird is that her voicemail is different. Just kinda garbled sounds."

"What?"

"Listen." Mckenzie put her phone on speaker and called Rachel. No answer. And Mckenzie was right, the voicemail wasn't Rachel's usual bubbly voice telling the caller to leave a message. It was like something from a horror movie.

"Kenz, you're weirding me out. Go to bed and we'll see if she's contacted you by morning. If not, we'll get serious about finding her. Okay?" Cole said.

"Okay. Night." Mckenzie walked over to Cole and kissed his cheek.

"Go, shoo, off to bed." Cole ordered.

"Okay, okay. Bossy." She giggled as Cole glared at her as she walked away.


	3. Chapter 3

Song: Melanie Martinez- Tag, You're It

Mckenzie yawned. She glanced at her clock as she pulled herself out of bed.

 _10:30_? Man, she'd slept late. She started to walk into the kitchen and see if somebody had left her food, when she realized Rachel was missing. A hurried search for her phone, which was under the bed, proved useful. There was a text from Rachel.

The other six ninja were at the table, laughing about how Jay had spotted a spider, and failed to kill it, instead screaming like a five year old.

"I got chased by a tiger widow! Okay guys, laugh it up, let's see you guys after you get chased by a deadly spider." Jay rolled his eyes. Suddenly a bloodcurdling shriek filled the bounty.

"That was Mckenzie!" Lloyd exclaimed. All of the ninja scrambled and were running like mad to get to Mckenzie's room. When they got there, Mckenzie was still screaming, and Cole grabbed her and pulled her to him. She didn't look hurt. He started stroking his sobbing sister's hair.

"Heeeyyyy, Kenzie, it's okay. What's wrong?"

"Rachel..." Mckenzie whimpered.

"What do you mea, 'Rachel'? Kenzie, you're gonna have to talk to me." Cole jumped. A loud noise crashed in the room.

"What in the hell!" Cole heard Kai, Jay, and Lloyd exclaim at the same time. Cole turned to look at what they were looking at, and what had made the explosion. They were hovering over Mckenzie's phone. The video they watched was sickening. It was a fifteen second video, and had been sent from Rachel's phone. Jay hit the replay button. Cole watched with a sickened look.

It displayed Rachel, bound and gagged to a chair in a small dark room. Her hair was tangled, and she was dirty. The clap sounded again. Suddenly Rachel crumbled, and blood was pouring out of her face. A deep, scratchy voice could be heard in the background

"You'll be next." The clip ended there.

"That's sick! Why in the hell would whoever that was kill Rachel?" Jay asked.

"I- I don't know..." Cole said softly. Watching her die was like having a piece of his heart ripped out.

"And why does it say, 'You'll be next.'?" Kai asked worriedly. His phone beeped. He pulled it out his pocket, looking at the others with an almost terrified look on his face.

"Ohhh damn..." Kai muttered.

"What!" Nya squeaked.

"'Good question, master of fire. You'll find out soon enough. You're #3.'" Kai read from his screen.

"Oh, that's just lovely, we're all gonna get death threats! From someone who we know is going to keep his word!" Jay started ranting.

"How is that lovely? I believe that death threats are far from lovely." Zane spoke up.

"Zane, I was being sarcastic. Can't your nindroid brain understand that?" Jay was getting really freaked out, and Jay freaked out, he was completely irrational.

"Guys! Let's just focus on what's important right now!" Lloyd tried to take control. "How did he know you asked that question?" Now Lloyd's phone made a noise.

"Don't open it!" Jay demanded.

"This is freaky. 'I've got eyes and ears everywhere. I'm watching you #4'" Lloyd passed the message on to his friends.

"Whyyyyyy! Why are we all getting stalked!" Jay moaned. Jay's screen lit up.

"Oh shit. I shouldn't have asked that. 'Because you all deserve to die.#5' Can this guy make it less hurtful?" Jay's phone buzzed again.

"'You do.' Very comforting."

"Let's just try to figure this out... Zane, can you try to find out where Rachel's phone is? Can you track it?" Kai asked.

"I can try." He took Mckenzie's phone from Nya, and messed with it for a minute. "I'll have to take it into the computer room and dig in. Jay? Would you help me?" Zane asked.

"Sure." Jay replied. He followed Zane, who breezed out of the room. Cole sat on the edge of the bed, and pulled Mckenzie onto his lap. He just hugged her, while Lloyd, Kai, and Nya searched the room for cameras.

"Found one!" Nya exclaimed after about twenty minutes. It was about half the size of a pinky fingernail, and was on the end of Mckenzie's bed.

"If I ever get my hands on the guy who had the nerve..." Kai started broiling.

"That won't help right now. I'm not pleased at the thought of a camera in a girl's room, but cool it." Lloyd directed.

"Sorry. It just the thought of that guy..." Kai trailed off again. That wasn't right. You just don't put a camera in a teenage girl's room, especially if you're a guy. And if she had a hotheaded boyfriend who was also a ninja. Kai glanced at Mckenzie. She was still sobbing, her face tear stained. Cole just rested his cheek on the top of her head and held her. But then Kai noticed a small, glassy tear run down Cole's face. Since when does Cole cry? Never.

"Ummm... Cole, do you want us to leave?" The master of fire asked the master of earth, cutting a sideways glance at his sister and Lloyd.

"Sure." Cole whispered. The three took that as a cue to leave silently, and Lloyd had the presence of mind to shut the door, leaving the siblings to cry alone. Mckenzie was curled up on Cole's lap, who had his strong arms around the one he loved most.

"I should've listened, Kenz." Cole whispered to his light bending sister.

"I should've done something." Mckenzie said back, barely audible. Another tear dropped off of Cole's face and dropped into Mckenzie's hair.

"What are we gonna do?" Cole, the rock, the leader, was absolutely helpless. One day he was dreaming of the untouchable girl, the next, he was trying to find her killer and sister's stalker. But when was life fair?


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey y'all, I know this song is kinda a love song, but try to see it as a friendship love, okay? I think it goes really well with the chapter, and I hope you think the same. Here comes the darkness. ~SpitfirewaterNinja**

Song: Christina Perri - Lonely

A week passed. Mckenzie wouldn't come out of her room. She just curled up on her bed in either one of Kai or Cole's stolen t-shirts and shorts. Whenever they brought her food, she just picked at it. Zane was still working to hack into the technology put onto Rachel's phone. The killer had installed extremely high tech security, but strangely, because he only wanted the phone to text the ninja. Every time someone would try to get Mckenzie to come out, she just softly refused. All she did all day was either write, draw, or play her flute, violin or guitar. A week after the murder, Kai walked into Mckenzie's room, where she was asleep. He glanced at her desk. The drawings done on paper worried him. The art depicted figures, shadows, drowning out any and all light. One was a shadow of the moon covering the sun and casting it's darkness over the ground, which had a little girl, sitting on a sidewalk clutching a rag doll, tears pouring down her face. The sketch was done well, but the darkness was what puzzled Kai. Where had his sunshine gone? Master of light? Even the sun in real life didn't want to show its face. Kai picked up another drawing. This one showed a shadow devouring another little girl, again, crying her eyes out. The horror aspect was terrifying. Mckenzie was never dark. After a closer look, both the little girls resembled Mckenzie as a child. Kai took a chance, and checked out another piece of art. The paper had two little girls,holding dolls of past years, holding hands, staring at the viewer with empty, terrified eyes. The other girl looked like Rachel. Then the inevitable shadow cast over the paper, creating the hollow, black, mood.

"I miss you." Kai whispered, watching the girl under the blankets breathe. Kai was too worried about his girlfriend to even think about the consequences as he picked up her journal. Later on, the master of fire would wish he had never opened the blue and gold book. The entries were really adorable and normal for the first one hundred or so pages. Then he got to what he was looking for. The date of Rachel's death. The first entry creeped the brunette out.

 _"Darkness empties the world of all light. Including me. Shadows drain my soul of all life. The universe is covered in a blanket of darkness, with no hope."_

The next one was a little sadder,

 _"Darkness hides me from reality. In the light, I'm under a microscope. Shadows cover me with protection."_

But the most recent one scared Kai out of his wits. And he didn't get scared easily _._

 _"Collapse into a shell,_

 _My life is a living hell._

 _All I can do is hide,_

 _The shadows eat away inside._

 _Till death do us part,_

 _You've ripped apart my heart._

 _Tears flow freely when I'm alone,_

 _But I shriek when I see the phone._

 _You haunt me in my dreams,_

 _But all I can do is scream._

 _Hunted by a killer,_

 _Comic book thriller._

 _Knife in my palm,_

 _draw it across my skin, trying to keep calm._

 _I want to die,_

 _Trust me I'll try."_

Where was she? It was like her mentality was changing. Gone was the master of light, here was the master of darkness. Kai was struck with a thought. What if this affected her powers? Mckenzie rolled, and the hothead almost jumped out of his skin. She was still asleep. Kai crept out of his baby girl's room, and bumped into Jay on the way out.

"Whatchya doing?" Asked the Lightning ninja with a quirked eyebrow. His auburn-ginger hair was messy, and he looked tired. Jay? Tired? As if.

"Just checking on her. You look tired." Kai pushed his hand through his own disastrous hair. Not that he cared.

"I am." Jay yawned. "I've been working on hacking." Kai yawned himself.

"Don't make me do that bro. Have you seen Cole? Uh, there's something I need to talk to him about." Kai blushed a little at the thought of telling his girlfriend's brother he snooped in her diary. Jay took the blush differently.

"You didn't- Kai, we don't need any children in this chaos." Jay said wide eyed.

"No! No. There's some weird stuff of Mckenzie's that she drew and wrote. I just want to ask Cole about it."

"Like what?"

"Dark drawings. And I read some stuff in her diary." Jay gasped. "I know! I know! That's not good! But from what I read she's going into depression. She wrote that she wants to die, Jay. Says that shadows are eating her, darkness is draining her soul of light."

"That's... Creepy. I'll give her that." Jay rubbed his face with his palm and said, "I've gotta get some sleep. Cole is in his room by the way."

"Thanks. And can you actually sleep? And not let Nya in?"

"Sure." The master of Lightning trudged off to his room.

Kai seriously hoped Cole would be able to help. He had been acting so strong, and showing sadness, but not enough to question his ability as a leader. He was perfect to ask questions to. So Kai slowly walked the halls and traced his fingers over all of the paintings on the walls. Most of them were done by Zane or Mckenzie, and all could have sold for quite a bit of money, but they decided to keep them for themselves. Kai got to Cole's room and knocked. No answer.


	5. Chapter 5

**Again. A love song. But again, I think it goes well with the chapter. At least the first part. Just think brotherly love okay?**

Song: Alex and Sierra: Little do You Know

"Cole!" Kai rapped on the door. He was about to open it when a muffled

"Come in." was spoken through the slowly opened the door. Cole was on his beanbag chair. He was dragging the back of hand across his eyes. The end of his nose was red and his eyes were slightly puffy. Had he been crying? Cole was reaching over to his nightstand to put his phone on top of the wooden surface.

"You okay?" Kai asked gently.

"I'm okay." Cole sniffled slightly.

"You sure?" Kai prodded.

"No." He pulled a book off of his bed. It was black with gray and gold swirls, and had 'Cole' written in the bottom corner. It looked like his journal. Kai watched awkwardly as Cole pulled a picture out of the book.

"I loved her you know." Cole whispered. Kai walked over to the beanbag, and sat on the side next to Cole. The shot was of Cole and Rachel, possibly up to ten years ago, obviously cut to crop out somebody else in the picture.

"You did?" Kai was getting overwhelmed with all of the emotions.

"Yeah. I was a little idiot and never asked her to do anything. Then she was popular and pretty and I ran away... I never knew where she was until Mckenzie happened to be friends with her. Then she came back... I was entirely starstruck. And I never got enough courage to tell her how I felt." A telltale tear rolled down Cole's face. It dropped of of the end of his nose and splashed into the picture.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." Kai started. How was he going to tell him his sister was suicidal now? And why we're all these emotions getting dumped on him? Not that he cared, he would carry them all a thousand times over.

"She was perfect... and I let her go. I should've listened to Mckenzie when she told me Rachel was missing. " Cole sniffled. Kai reached over and hugged his brother while he stole another glance at the picture. A faint heart was drawn around Cole and Rachel. They would have been a cute couple.

 _Would have._ Kai reminded himself.

"I could've saved her."

"Cole... Don't think like that. Please?" Kai almost pleaded.

"Why shouldn't I? It's true." Cole groaned.

"No it's not... Hey, I need to ask you something." Kai tried to turn the conversation around. "About Mckenzie." Cole sat up and shifted so he could face the brunette next to him.

"You picked a fabulous time. You have got to be kidding." Cole glared at Kai.

"No! I mean, I need your help getting through to her. Have you seen the stuff she draws? Or heard the music she plays in there?" Kai spewed.

"I know. I get it though. Just let her express her feelings the way she wants. She won't always come running to you when she feels pain. Mckenzie is tough. She doesn't like showing vulnerability." Cole wiped his eyes again, trying to gain his composure so he sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

"But she always-" Kai began to argue.

"Does her best friend 'always' get killed?" Cole interrupted with a slight snap.

"No."

"Mckenzie won't always express her feelings in the way you want her to," Cole continued. "She won't always come right out and tell you what's bothering her. Mckenzie won't always run into your arms and cry her eyes out while you tell her everything will be fine. Sometimes she'll need some time to think on her own, self-heal, ya know?" He pushed his shaggy black hair away from his face.

"I guess." Kai sighed. "I kinda snooped in her diary though..."

"Really? Just really." Cole rolled his eyes upward. "Well, spill it. What's bugging you?" What a change. Just five minutes before, Kai was the one giving the comfort and advice. But it was back to normal. Cole was the rock he always was.

"She wrote this thing, a poem of sorts, but it was almost suicidal." Kai nearly winced as he said the last part. He didn't want Cole mad.

 _But why should he be?_ The little voice made another appearance. True, why should he be mad?

"Go figure." The master of earth exhaled.

"That's all you have to say?" Kai pestered.

"Pretty much. Let her be herself. I mean, don't let her cut herself or anything. Just let her heal on her own unless she wants you to help."

"Okay. I guess that makes sense."

"Go. Shoo. Begone. I need to be alone awhile." Cole snorted at the fire ninja squished into the beanbag beside him. Kai pulled himself up and walked to the door. He paused and turned.

"Hey, Cole. I really am sorry about Rachel." Kai looked at the floor.

"So am I."

That night Zane cooked again. Mckenzie still refused to come out.

"Mckenzie?" Jay knocked on her door.

"Go away." Came the annoyed reply.

"Look, you've gotta eat." Jay argued.

"I'm not hungry."

"I can't believe that. No one is not hungry for a week."

"Well now you've met someone who isn't hungry and hasn't been for a week."

"Please? One of your guardians out there is going to skin me alive if I don't get you eat sometime soon." Jay glanced nervously toward the stairs.

"Why blame it on you? Let them skin me."

"Who-oa..." The retort startled Jay. "What? You don't seriously mean that?"

"Why not?"

"Look, Mckenzie, whatever funk you're going through, you need to snap out of it."

"I do not want to eat. Go away." Mckenzie borderline yelled at Jay.

"Fine! You know what? Just don't eat! I can't help you if you won't let me!" Jay snapped. "I've been nice to you this entire week. Guess what I get? A crappy attitude. Grow up." Jay stomped downstairs. About halfway to the kitchen he admitted to himself he was wrong. But he had no idea the effect of the argument, which would come very soon.


	6. Chapter 6

Song: Charlie Puth: See you again

* * *

Jay stomped his way down the stairs, and back to the table.

"Don't worry about it," Cole said quietly before Jay could say a word. "I'll go talk to her later." Jay slid into his chair and mumbled a thanks to Zane before eating.

"Have you had any succes yet?" Nya asked Zane.

"I believe I might have a location on where the texts were sent from. Not necessarily the location of the phone." Zane replied.

"As in, coordinates? Or just a general area?" Nya pushed further.

"I don't have coordinates yet. And as for the area, it's somewhere around the south side of Ninjago."

"Go figure," Lloyd spoke up. "Just about the slummiest part of Ninjago."

"Don't sweat. We've got this guy." Jay tried to be cheerful for everyone's benefit, but started sulking when no one noticed his efforts. Dinner was eaten in mostly silence.

* * *

Later that night Cole knocked on Mckenzie's door extremely softly. She was playing her violin and was singing.

 _"Dancing slowly, in an empty room... can the lonely take the place of you?"_ Mckenzie sang.

Cole decided to just walk in. It wasn't like she would answer. He turned the handle and pushed the door open. Mckenzie was sitting on the floor, violin in hand, sitting across from her old stuffed bear. But what surprised Cole was the blood on her wrist.

When Mckenzie noticed Cole, she jerked her hand back and pulled her long sleeve down.

"Really, Kenz?" Cole asked, the disappointment in his voice. When she heard his tone, she looked at the floor. A tear ran down her cheek.

"Let me in. Let me help you." Cole sat on the floor, next to her, and lifted her arm and pulled up the sleeve. The cut wasn't that bad, it was only bleeding a little bit. But he saw three older, healing cuts. How long? Mckenzie had her face buried in her other hand, and she was shaking.

"Mckenzie Annalise Bella Brookstone, I want you to be with us. Look at me." Cole ordered gently. She slowly lifted her head and looked her brother in the eye.

"How long? Why?"

"I- I miss her so much..." Mckenzie whispered.

"I do too. But this won't help." Cole's eyes looked right into hers.

"But why?! She did nothing to deserve this!" Mckenzie cried.

"I don't know. I don't know who is screwing our minds, but we'll find him." Cole took his sister's face in his hands. Tears were streaming down both of their faces. He rested his forhead on top of Mckenzie's head.

"Why us?" Mckenzie asked, almost inaudibly.

"We're famous, in a way. It doesn't come without the cons." Cole whispered back.

"I hate him." Mckenzie's voice was nearly emotionless.

"I do too. I do too."

* * *

"I'm going to see what's going on." Kai said, rising from the sofa.

"Why not let the, have their own time, alright Kai?" Nya suggested.

"We know you can't stand being away from Mckenzie, but let them have some peace. You and Nya need your personal sibling moments." Lloyd commented. "Like you ever have them."

"Thanks. Fine. I'll sit. And watch- what are we watching?" Kai stopped.

"Ozarks." Nya said, snuggling into Jay.

"This is the weirdest thing I've ever watched. And how did the sister even get into the laptop? If I had random and illegal crap on MY laptop, I'd get rid of it, or at least LOCK the dang computer."

"Just shut up and watch Kai." Nya directed.

"Fine, fine..."

* * *

Cole's tears dripped into Mckenzie's hair.

"I'm- im sorry..." Mckenzie hiccuped.

"I love you. Don't be sorry. I don't want you hurt." Cole replied.

"I know. But, I can't deal with the being cooped up in here, yet I can't go out. Even if I just go downstairs, all I see is Rachel... Anywhere I look. It's like her ghost is haunting me... And a bunch of sympathetic faces. I just want everyone to leave me alone."

"I get it. But we need to get past our fears. Let me guess. You're terrified of this stalker? Am I right?"

Mckenzie nodded a little hesitantly.

"Not for me. I don't want him to get you or Kai, or Jay, or Lloyd, Zane, or Nya... I don't care about me anymore."

"You may not, but I do." Cole lifted his head from it's resting place on top of Mckenzie's. "Hey, you wanna play that song you were just playing?"

"Eh... I don't know."

"Please? I like the lyrics."

"Okay..." Mckenzie picked up the violin and lifted her bow. "Two am, where do I begin..." Mckenzie softly sang as she drew the bow across the strings of the wooden instrument.

After she finished the song, Cole hugged her.

"That was pretty. _The Lonely_ right?" Mckenzie nodded. "Thanks. I'm gonna go downstairs now. You wanna join me?" Cole looked into her eyes earnestly. _Please, please_. His eyes said.

"Umm... Maybe later." Mckenzie could feel the disappointment roll off of his body.

"Okay. Love you."

"I love you too. I wish every girl had a brother like you." Cole smiled, then left, shutting the door. Mckenzie flopped on top of her bed. She grabbed her iPad, and checked her messages. She hadn't even glanced at them. There were ten from Brandon Sayer, Rachel's boyfriend.

 _Have you seen Ray? - BrandonBoi72_

 _Kenz, where is Ray?- BrandonBoi72_

 _Mckenzie, if this is a joke you'll be sorry- BrandonBoi72_

 _Are you okay?- BrandonBoi72_

 _Please be okay. I heard about Rachel. Her mom told me. - BrandonBoi72_

 _Mckenzie why aren't you answering?- BrandonBoi72_

 _Answer please. Your bro won't answer me either.- BrandonBoi72_

 _Kenzie? - BrandonBoi72_

 _I hope you're okay.- BrandonBoi72_

 _Please answer. I hope you're okay.- BrandonBoi72_

Brandon had been one of her best friends. She picked up the iPad and started typing.

 _Hey, Brandon, sorry if you were worried, I've been having some problems. Please don't hate me.- lightunderwater_

Mckenzie closed the tab. Of course he was worried. She opened her Instagram and sighed. At least three dozen people had messaged her and tagged her. The life of someone who saves the city. She started to reply to them all and comment on posts, but gave up halfway through. She exhaled deeply and got up and went to her desk. She pulled out a blank sheet of drawing paper and sharpened a pencil. Then Mckenzie's hand flew as she drew a new picture. It was according to her new style, and it was a giant teddy bear with a knife chasing her child self. Her childhood haunting her. How true.

Mckenzie glanced at the bear on the floor. Why was she suddenly afraid to be alone in the room with the stuffed peice of cloth? Mckenzie looked squeamishly at the smiling animal. She tried to shut it out, but it's presence bothered her. She finally stood up and picked up the toy gingerly.

"What do you want? Can't you leave me alone? I have enough problems." Mckenzie whispered, staring into its glass eyes. Suddenly the vibe went away, and a wave of relief washed over Mckenzie. She hugged the brown and white bear, then trod downstairs.

Kai was at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey you." He said pulling her into his arms.

"Hi. I don't wanna be cold, but can you leave me alone awhile? I'm sorry." Mckenzie looked at her shoes.

"It's okay. Just let me know when you want me back." Kai gave her an impish grin.

"Thanks." Mckenzie scooted past him with a tiny flash smile. She went into the kitchen where Zane was cleaning.

"Hey, Zane." Zane glanced at her with suprise.

"Hello Mckenzie. I am startled to see you at this time period in your life."

"Are there any leftovers? I'm kinda hungry."

"Yes. But they are in the refrigerator. Would you like them reheated?" Zane asked, moving towards the fridge.

"No. What is it?"

"Chicken Parmesan with pasta."

"Sounds good. Thanks." Mckenzie said as Zane slid her the bowl full of chicken and cheese.

"Something seems to be bothering you. Would you like to talk about it?"

"Well..."


	7. Chapter 7

Song: Marshmello feat. Khalid- Silence

"Well?" Zane lifted an eyebrow as he sat down across from Mckenzie.

"Well... It's just... I feel like I can't cope anymore. Someone is stalking me, with the intent to kill. He's already killed once, what's to stop him from doing it again? I'm going to die sooner or later, might as well be sooner. I'm not doing anyone any good here. I hide in my room all day, I draw things that I scare myself with, I'm downright cold to Cole and Kai. I'm not who I once was. I think that's what bothers me the most." Mckenzie looked at the pasta she was jabbing with the fork.

"So, you figure dying like Rachel now, is what is best?" Zane's softly echoing voice was like ASMR, giving Mckenzie slight chills up her back. It was surprisingly soothing, and she felt the dam inside breaking.

"Yeah. Why Rachel? What did she do? It's not fair."

"Not everything revolves around fair. You have to remember."

"I know..." Her voice trailed off.

"Why have you refused help from your brother, or anyone else for that matter?" Zane asked gingerly.

"I don't know. I'm a stupid little moron who can't even ask for help."

"No. A stupid little moron who cannot ask for help would not admit it. You just did. You can ask for help anytime, you just need to figure out how."

"But that still doesn't solve my problem." Zane glanced at her wrist where the sleeve had involuntarily pulled above the cuts.

"Self harm is not the answer."

"Maybe not for you. But it degrades me, in a way. Helps prove my point about myself. I'm tired of being seen as the famous girl who cares only about the popularity. I just a sad little human who wants to die."

"Sad, correct, but you, degraded? I think there is something deeper, something you're keeping to yourself." Mckenzie sighed. There was no getting around this guy, huh?

"Fine. I'm terrified, Zane. Scared spitless. I'm actually afraid for my life for the first time in my career. I've never felt this fear before Zane. I'm living life in a bubble. You guys have protected me for forever. I'm just... So lost."

"I think you are going through something that everyone goes through when a loved one dies. It's called grief."

"No, Zane-" she got cut off by the nindroid.

"No, you listen to me. You are important to this team, important to this family. We need you. Cole needs you, Kai needs you, Lloyd needs you, Jay needs you, Nya needs you, and I need you. We can't do this without you." A small tear trickled down Mckenzie's cheek. She wiped it off with the back of her hand and stared at her food. If only she could believe Zane.

* * *

They were all lined up, gaged and tied to chairs in a dark, dingy room. They were all blindfolded, except for Mckenzie. There was a tall, slender man wearing a trench coat and welders mask. He cocked the revolver he had pulled out of his pocket and slowly pointed it at the first in line. Lloyd. Mckenzie tried to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. The sound of the gun echoed off of the walls. Lloyd slumped over, half of his face gone, The man then moved over to the next one. Jay. Again, the horrifying image of a bloody body and no sound except for the gun. He slowly moved down the line, picking them off one by one, until he got to the last chair. Mckenzie. He emptied the six used casings out of the chamber of his revolver and put one new one in. He then slowly raised the gun to Mckenzie's face. She tried to scream again, only this time she could.

* * *

Kai woke up to a piercing shriek that ripped through the bounty. He was only able to process the screaming as he clumsily ran towards the sound. Nothing else. He found himself at Mckenzie's door, and without thinking he opened the door. She was curled up on her bed, and she was just shaking all over. He could hear a few quiet sobs. He was immediately awake. When Mckenzie looked up and saw Kai, she jumped up and flung her arms around him. He wrapped his own arms around her small body and just stood there for a minute.

"I was so scared. It seemed so real..." Mckenzie said, her voice muffled from Kai's shirt. Kai began to realize she had a nightmare when Cole walked in.

"What's going on?" Cole asked groggily.

"I've got this. You go back to bed." Kai told Cole softly.

"You sure?"

"Yep." He assured Cole, who stumbled back to bed. Kai sat down on the bed, and pulled Mckenzie next to him.

"You wanna talk about it?" Mckenzie shook her head. What she wanted was the image out of her brain.

"I don't think I can fall asleep." Mckenzie whispered.

"I'll stay with you until you do." Kai promised. He went around to the other side of the bed and laid down. He patted the mattress and said,

"C'mon, you need sleep. That's something that'll help." Mckenzie laid down next to Kai and she said, in a slightly louder voice than before,

"I don't ever want you to die."

"I don't really want to die either. But I'd do it for you." Mckenzie scooted closer to Kai so her head could rest on his chest.

"I'm sorry. I've been a major jerk lately." Kai looked at Mckenzie.

"What are you talking about? Your best friend just died. Nobody's perfect. And I love you however you may act."

"No, I've been pushing you all away. I've been downright jerk." Mckenzie argued. Kai hugged her.

"I think you're perfect, hot or cold. You needed some time. Go to sleep okay? I'll stay right here." Mckenzie mumbled and buried herself under the covers, snuggled into Kai. He wished that she would just stay there forever. He listened to their synchronized heartbeats and eventually fell asleep to Mckenzie's soft, even breathing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Response to guest reviews:**

 **RandomDragon: Yeah, but I wouldn't get my hopes up too soon.**

 **rbrill345: Yeah, I actually had that dream a few days before I updated, so I decided to use it. It was absolutely terrifying.(I have weird dreams BTW)**

Her past. Something about it bugged Mckenzie. She couldn't put her finger on it, and she couldn't place what exactly WAS triggering her memory. But there was a missing link between Rachel's death and her childhood. Ever since Rachel had died, Mckenzie kept feeling tugs toward the past. Like her stuffed bear. Even though she knew nothing was off about it, Mckenzie kept getting weird vibes around the stuffed animal. Like, she would feel something watching her, and when she turned around, all there was was the bear. She wasn't about to get rid of it though. Her mother had given to her when she was two, soon before she died. The bear was precious to her. But there were other things that bothered her too. Something about her and Rachel, when they were about six, kept nagging her. Mckenzie couldn't remember the exact event, or when it had happened, she just remembered that something HAD happened. Or that just her past in general was hazy. Usually her memory was fairly sharp, though now it was like someone pulled out a data chip, and now it was just fuzzy.

Later that day, Mckenzie decided to take a big leap of faith and go outside. She wanted

* * *

to walk around, and just breathe for a minute. She wasn't going to let herself be babysat by one of the others though. After pulling on a black hoodie and skinny jeans and boots, Mckenzie grabbed her phone and walked out of her room. So, while she had a sinking feeling she knew what the answer was going to be, Mckenzie still decided to try and act like an adult and tell Cole where she was going.

She found Cole in the brig of the ship, digging around for something.

"Hey, uh, Cole?" Mcenzie asked nervously.

"Yeah Kenz? Whatchya need?" Cole asked, still searching for whatever it was he was looking for.

"I'm just going to go on a walk. I'll be back in an hour or so." Mckenzie cringed as she tried backing out before Cole could answer.

"Who's going with you?" Cole stood up, dusting his hands off on his pants.

"No one. I'm going to stay in this area though."

"No." Just flat out "No." Mckenzie groaned.

"Co-ole. I can take care of myself. I'm not five anymore."

"To my knowledge, someone is stalking you, and I'd be a damn fool if I let you go out into Ninjago, the largest city in our world, by yourself."

"It's not fair. How many other sixteen year old girls know spinjitsu? I can take care of myself. While I appreciate your concern, there is no way I'm letting one of my best friends babysit me. Absolutely not."

"Well then, sorry. You obviously aren't grown up enough to see that I'm trying to keep you safe."

"You're not Dad." That comment stung Cole. At least he was trying to protect his sister. That was his job as an older brother. And she was shoving it back into his face.

"No, I'm not. I'm your brother."

"You don't have any right to keep me locked up in here if I choose not to be escorted everywhere I go."

"Actually-"

"No. I'm not going to listen to you, so you can save it." Mckenzie stormed off back into her room and slammed the door, making the bounty shake.

Cole sighed. Where had his sister gone?

* * *

Mckenzie flopped onto her bed. Cole was probably right. And she'd probably hurt his feelings. But he didn't listen to her! No one did! All they cared about was keeping her safe. They didn't notice that Mckenzie didn't give a crap about her safety anymore. Who was she kidding? She wasn't going to live forever, nor did she want to. She was just about done with life. Mckenzie glanced out her window. Then she made the stupidest decision she'd ever made in her life.

* * *

"Kai?" Cole called through the bounty.

"What? I'm trying to find my shoes!" Kai called back, from under his bed.

"Have you seen Mckenzie? She's not in her room." Cole walked into Kai's room and leaned against the doorframe. He failed as an older brother. His little sister was gone, and he knew nothing good could come of it.

"No. Did you check all over the ship? She could just be hiding- OWW! You f***ing bed!" Kai cursed as he slammed his head on the underside of the bed.

Cole would've laughed any other day. But now just wasn't time. Kai pulled himself out from under the bed and rubbed his head where he had hit it, making his crazy hair stick up even more.

"She's not on this ship Kai. I've been looking for the past hour."

"Okay, where would she have gone? Doesn't Zane have a tracker on her phone?"

"Yeah. But Zane can only do so much at once. At the moment he's downloading software, updating the computer systems, and powering some stuff for Nya. In case you haven't noticed, you can't really stop any of those things, nor can Zane take on something else."

"Whyyyyyyy is Zane doing this from his power source?" Kai asked.

"The power is out idiot." Cole gestured out into the hall. It was dimmer than normal, but it was still daytime, so Kai hadn't noticed.

"Oh. Well, let's go. How'd she get out?" Kai felt weird, hunting his girlfriend down like this.

"I think through her window. It looks like she tried to lock it from the outside."

* * *

Mckenzie had her head down, walking through a busy shopping center. Her hood was over her head, and she wore aviator sunglasses, even though it was rather cloudy. She sat down on a park bench, and glanced at her phone.

 _2 new messages- ColeB_

Mckenzie sighed. It wasn't fair what she was doing to Cole. But for some reason, she didn't really care.

Then she checked her email.

 _1 new email- rayinthedark_

Mckenzie nearly jumped out of her skin. She thought these were over. She cautiously tapped the email.

 _I know exactly where you are_. The message was enough to make Mckenzie want to go back to her cave of a room and just sit there. But to add a cherry on top, there was an attached image of her sitting on the park bench. Mckenzie swung her head around, trying to figure out where and who just took her picture.

 _Don't you get it?_ That little voice inside of her whispered. _You aren't worth it. You're a terrible sister, a terrible girlfriend, and a jerk on top of it. This is called K-A-R-M-A. Karma sweetie. You deserve this. Making Cole so worried. And being a total jerk to Kai. They love you, and all you do is throw their love back at them._

Mckenzie almost covered her ears to stop the tirade raging in her head. But then she stopped when she realized the voice was right. Not once had she ever said, "Thanks for looking out for me," To Cole. Never had she said, "You're the most understanding boyfriend a girl could have," to Kai. So Mckenzie just sat on the bench and waited. Surely death would have mercy on her and take her quickly.


End file.
